About migrating to Australia

from w
At present numerous international students in Australian colleges are hoping their course will lead them to later permanent residence in Australia - doing hospitality, etc. but there is a tightening up on categories of work now. Certain skills are in demand, but others (often taken by international students in barely competent courses) are no longer a step in the direction of staying on in Australia. So could Mr Qoliqoli Ghosh a dance instructor get in? Not likely! The new list can be found on this website: Weblink: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/new-list-of-occupations.pdf

I read this in today's Age newspaper:

Canberra slashes occupations on migration list
PETER MARTIN May 17, 2010

AUSTRALIA is about to become a harder place to get into if you are a dance instructor, piano tuner, hairdresser or chef.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans has slashed by half the list of 400 occupations given an easy ride into Australia in the independent skilled migration program, replacing them with 180 ''highly valued occupations''. Still on the list are medical professionals including dentists, surgeons and nurses, as well as engineers, teachers, IT professionals and welders. But off the list from July will be dance instructors, piano tuners and - significantly - hairdressers and cooks.

''In 2007-08 … of the 41,000 general skilled visas granted, more than 5000 went to hairdressers and cooks,'' Senator Evans said. ''And three-quarters of them had studied in Australia. Our migration program should not be determined by the courses studied by our international students.''

Senator Evans said the new list, developed by the independent body Skills Australia, would ensure the skilled migration program was demand-driven rather than supply-driven.

''We value the international education sector. Its students will still be able to apply for permanent migration or be nominated by employers, but we will no longer almost automatically accept the thousands of cooks and hairdressers who applied under the guidelines established by the Howard government,'' he said.

Senator Evans flagged the change in February, saying far more people applied for skilled migration than the 108,000 places available.

''The old system served everyone in order, just like pulling a ticket number from the dispenser at the supermarket deli counter,'' he said. ''Our reforms will shift skilled migration from the supply-driven system we inherited to a demand-driven system. We need the skills that are actually in demand in the economy, not just those applicants present with.

''If hospitals are crying out for nurses, they should have priority over the 12,000 unsponsored cooks who have applied and who, if all were granted visas, would flood the market.''

Skills Australia was set up in 2008 with the express purpose of identifying skills shortages. Its eight-person board includes Australian Industry Group chief Heather Ridout, ACTU president Sharan Burrow and a former head of the Prime Minister's Department, Michael Keating.

It will update the pared-down skills list annually.

Senator Evans said students already in Australia intending to apply for permanent residence could take advantage of transition provisions announced in February.

A separate report released today by economic consultancy BIS Shrapnel finds that population growth is set to slow sharply in response to lower foreign student numbers and a drop in the number of sponsored applicants for short-term work visas.

Net overseas migration is expected to be down to 175,000 people in 2010-11, and 145,000 people in 2011-12, BIS Shrapnel senior economist Jason Anderson says. As a result, national population growth is expected to slow to about 1.5 per cent in 2010-11 and 1.3 per cent in 2011-12, the report finds.

The change is because the rise in net overseas migration over the past three years came mostly from long-term visitors - such as skilled workers on 457 visas and foreign students - not permanent migrants.

An Australian Industry Group survey also released today finds 75 per cent of employers are dissatisfied with the skills of their Australian-trained workers, with 45 per cent believing their labourers have worryingly low literacy and numeracy skills.

With AAP